Sunago Coffee: The Best Remedy for Holiday Shopping

I love the holidays…but not so much the shopping. This week as I prepared to do my monthly Costco run, I knew I needed a pick-me-up before facing the holiday hordes. Yes, I know…my timing stinks. Who does their monthly Costco run the week of Thanksgiving? Apparently, I do.  But I’ve discovered the best remedy to holiday shopping is Sunago Coffee.

Now you may wonder why Sunago Coffee in particular. After all, there are a cazillion coffee shops in Knoxville. In fact, I’ve written about some of them. What makes Sunago Coffee the best remedy for holiday shopping, instead of the others?

Well, let’s just be honest. Unfortunately, most of the major retail establishments in Knoxville are on the west side of town. Yes, there are some great specialty shops in other areas of Knoxville, and we’ll be checking them out in the upcoming months.

But if you are going to make the most of your shopping time during the holiday season, you’re going to be headed towards West Knoxville. Well, that is unless you do all your shopping on Amazon, and I’m going to tackle that in a later post.

I know what you’re thinking. There are still a lot of coffee shops in West Knoxville. How in the world can I say that Sunago is the remedy to your holiday shopping woes?

Full disclosure here….I would never have heard about Sunago if I hadn’t seen it on a friend’s Facebook page. After I saw R’s glowing recommendation, I knew I had to check it out. Not only for my blog, but I have a group of friends who make it a point to get together at a local coffee shop at least once a month. And Sunago wasn’t even on the list.

How could that be? Well, it could be because Sunago is all the way out at Hardin Valley Road. Now before you get all hot and bothered about it being that far out, that’s part of the appeal when you’re doing your holiday shopping.

It’s so irritating to fight for a parking space when you desperately need a cup of coffee before you lose your temper at the fourth person who pulls out in front of you. And that’s the problem I have with most of the coffee shops I’ve visited on Kingston Pike. They’re a pain to get into. And they’re located very close to all the shopping. Now if you’re willing to fight the hordes, by all means, go to one of those. If not, why not try Sunago?

Sunago doesn’t feel like it is right in the middle of all the shopping chaos, yet it is only about five miles from Costco. So, you can take a brief detour, get your caffeine fix and return to shopping, assured you can handle the frustrating drivers in this town.

This week was my third visit to Sunago. And to be honest, I had to text L (R’s wife) to remind me what the name of this shop was, because it had been a while since I had been there, and Sunago doesn’t just roll off your tongue.

So, what can make holiday shopping better? Doing it with your friends or taking a break and meeting your friends for coffee. And Sunago has just the place for you. In fact, the shop’s name is actually a Greek word meaning “to gather together”. So, it’s the perfect place to meet up with friends while doing some Christmas shopping.

Whether you’re meeting a couple of friends, or it’s time to get the entire gang together, you’ll find a table at Sunago. There are smaller tables that are perfect for 2 or 3 friends and also two comfy seating areas if you really want to relax.

And finally, if it’s time for a sibling “meeting of the minds” on what to get mom and dad for Christmas, they’ve got two tables that can hold at least ten people.  In addition, there’s a round table that will be perfect for my group of friends.

And, in an interesting twist, the co-owner of Sunago, Tito Wilson, designed and built all the tables in the shop.

I guess you could say that Sunago has an industrial look characterized by the exposed duct work, concrete floor, and brick-looking walls. While Sunago carries out the industrial look, the addition of comfy chairs and other decorating elements lend Sunago a comfier feeling than some of the other coffee shops that go for this same feel.

This comfy feeling was just what I was looking for as I sat and sipped my coffee and worked on this post before I headed out to conquer Costco.

In addition, nothing puts me in the holiday spirit more than some great Christmas decorations, and Sunago has them. Not one, but two trees decorate the shop. Greenery hangs from the lights and stockings hang beside the registers. Just walking into Sunago put me in the Christmas spirit.

Yeah, I know I’ve left the coffee til last. But if you’ve read any of my coffee shop blog posts you know that, for me, atmosphere is more important than coffee.

But, saying all that, Sunago does not disappoint when it comes to the coffee. Hubby is my coffee taster; he likes it black and hot. Even he was impressed by their drip coffee the last time he was there. I, on the other hand, need some milk and sugar in my coffee.  

And this time, I knew I needed some major caffeine before facing the crowds along with some major sugar to sweeten my disposition. The barista at Sunago knew just the drink for me…. The “Cup of Bliss”. I was a little hesitant because who has ever heard of cranberry in their coffee? But the barista was right; the “Cup of Bliss” was the perfect combination, a cranberry white mocha that didn’t disappoint.

Unfortunately, I got there too late for any of their pastries. I’ll have to visit later and let you know how they were. You can see their holiday specialties below.

If it’s late in the afternoon and you can’t handle that much caffeine, Sunago has you covered with a selection of Mayfield ice creams. I mean seriously, what more could you ask for…. coffee and ice cream….what a great combination.

If I’m just looking for some place to do some writing or meet with a couple of friends, I don’t know that I would make the trip from Halls to Hardin Valley for a cup of coffee. I mean…I would pass at least ten other coffee shops on my way there. Having said that, if I was really struggling with something I was writing, I might just make my way to Sunago just for the atmosphere and for a change of scenery.

But if I’m out in West Knoxville, I would definitely head to Sunago Coffee for the atmosphere and the coffee. And it is definitely going on the list for my “coffee club” friends.

Because of the holidays, click here to find current opening and closing times.

What about you? Have you tried Sunago coffee? Would you go across town to visit your favorite coffee shop.